<p>For the record, I originally posted this thread in college life, but for the sake of a larger audience, I've posted it here as well.
A conversation that we can all relate to: this is my angle on the subject. For it's worth, I'm a philosophy minor, and I would appreciate feedback and criticism.</p>
<pre><code>We beings have the capability of realizing our foreboding demise, that is, our death. This subtle realization indefinitely contributes to our interest in what is the "meaning" of life. Since we beings do not know what it is like to be in a position after death, we subliminally--for the majority of the population-- draw in a transcendent plane of life to compensate for the unknown variable, to make ourselves feel more secure with the universe. After this void has been fulfilled, we then take upon the issue of the "meaning" of life, which is then inevitably laced with a tinge of mysticism. It seems to me that there is no objective purpose to life, but people place their own subjective meanings onto their lives, clouding the ultimate superficiality of this universe. Also, with the word "meaning" being evidently a human-made concept, the universe does not need a sense of meaning in order for it to continue to exist. In other words, it is an unnecessary, irrelevant issue to the universe.
</code></pre>
<p>They say they found it.
Soon they will say they own it,
They will play creator,
Oh I say, only time is a matter.
Given it will bring about a revolution,
As humans interfere with evolution.
A planet to be saved,
A people by diseases enslaved,
Will welcome what comes,
Come what may, in sums.
But my lowly mind refuses to see,
The profits that will come to be,
From creating life in a lab,
And the following human blab.
My mind, foolish mind,
Sees irony unwind,
As they say they have found it,
In a gilt-edged press kit.
Yes we can brew life in a pot,
But its very meaning we know not.</p>
<p>Fallenchemist, the fact that we realize we will definitely pass from the physical plane one day definitely contributes to our interest in the subject, whereas if we lived to infinity, our interest in what the “meaning” of life would not be as motivating. </p>
<p>Poor grammar then. It sounds like you meant to say “This subtle realization of the indefinite nature of life…”, I guess. As it stands, you are saying you aren’t quite sure how this subtle realization contributes to our interest in the “meaning” of life, i.e. it is indefinite. The word “indefinite” as you used it refers to the “realization”, not life itself. In your follow up you say it definitely contributes. Contradictory. Not sure how subtle any of this is in any case. Clean up that sentence if you are using it in a paper for school.</p>
<p>Sorry, I meant to say the word “indefinitely” as you used it refers to the amount of contribution it makes to our interest, and then you say in the next post it definitely contributes, hence the contradiction. I guess you just typoed by saying indefinitely the first time instead of definitely, the first making no sense.</p>
<p>Fallenchemist, I utilized the word “indefinitely” in the adverb sense to mean limitless, boundless, not measurable. So it contributes to a greater degree than a “definite amount,” so to speak. </p>
<p>And, this isn’t for school, or anything to that effect, it was written from pure interest.</p>
<p>No one uses the word indefinitely that way. Very odd. If something definitely contributes, it means you know it contributes. So indefinitely in that sense means what? That it might or might not contribute. No one would take it in the context you say it to mean limitless or boundless. Very vague at best. Never any sense using words that cost a dollar when ones costing a dime will do.</p>
<p>The adverb sense of the word is quite common, and it actually is known to mean “limitless” within discourse, actually. It seems to me that you’re the only one that has an issue with my diction, which in that sense insinuates that the issue is with yourself.</p>
<p>lol, OK sure. Keep telling yourself that. Just tell me this. How would one know whether you meant it limitlessly contributed or it just wasn’t definite whether it did or not? As I said, vague at best.</p>
<p>I never let my ego cloud that ability. I’ll let you know when I have made one. You do the same. After all, the goal of writing is to communicate CLEARLY. That sentence does not accomplish it, as I have demonstrated.</p>
<p>The word indefinitely is very commonly used to mean limitless, and in the context of the sentence, that is clearly the intended meaning.</p>
<p>And Dnation for filling your post with misused and/or superfluous SAT words. You took a simple thought, which could have been expressed in 2-3 clear and simple sentences, and stretched it into a large, hard to read paragraph.</p>
<p>Yes the word indefinitely is commonly used to mean limitless, I never said otherwise. In that context? No way. Once you know from the explanation following what is intended, sure it is easy to read it the way he meant. Unambiguous from the start? Uh-uh. Which is clear since he used the same sentence pretty much with the word definitely in the next post he wrote, meaning the opposite of the other definition of indefinitely. So if you can say the opposite using definitely, how can it be clear he didn’t mean the opposite originally using indefinitely? Indefinitely has at least those two meanings, and it is impossible to tell which way he meant it in the context he used it. Hence my comment about writing having to be clear.</p>
<p>Meaning of life according to wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn:
“animation: the condition of living or the state of being alive;”</p>
<p>As for the purpose, I agree with what someone else said earlier. If you can understand who you are and what you are driven by, then I think you’ve found the purpose of your life.</p>